It's a world of firsts when you're under five - from walking to words, relationships to raging in the supermarket. There are loads of fun ways to practise social and emotional skills with your child. Have a read, then have a go!

If your family needs support for anxiety, depression or other mental health conditions, a range of health professionals are on hand to help. You can also have a chat in our community forums or get in touch with the Beyond Blue Support Service.

We will announce a new Valued Contributor on the 1st of each month, to give us time to review nominees' posts over a period of time.

With only one Valued Contributor nomination considered for each month, we realise that some members providing wonderful support might feel overlooked. We would encourage you to use the Bouquet For Pearls thread to provide encouragement and thanks to members who you see providing great support for others.

Prospective nominees may have been on our forums for some time, or may be relatively new. They may have posted frequently, or only occasionally. What's important is their impact on others and in the community. We will review the posts of all nominees against our five community values:

Supportive - We encourage our members to give and receive support, sharing their stories and experiences in times of distress and wellness.Respectful - We respect where members are on their recovery journey, and listen without judgment.Empowering - We empower our members to make decisions that support good mental health and wellbeing.Safe - We support our members to talk openly about difficult subjects in a safe manner.Friendly - We approach all our discussions with kindness, warmth and always assume the best intentions.

Pamela took it upon herself to start a Sharing strategies to help with PTSD thread, and has been leading this discussion thoughtfully for the last few weeks. She has generously shared her own experiences and tips, while also providing support for others.

Pepper has been a member of the forums for a little over eight months, and has consistently reached out to provide support for new members, in addition to supporting our regulars. More recently, Pepper has also helped to grow our new Multicultural Experiences section with some very thoughtful posts and threads.

Summer has consistently reached out to provide support for dozens of new members over the past month, and also created and led a thoughtful discussion on the role of women as carers for International Women's Day.

Since joining the forums in March, Chloe has made over 500 posts, many of them in support of others who are struggling, while also working through struggles of her own. She has also consistently reached out to new members to make them feel heard and welcome.

Ggrand joined the forums a little over a year ago, and during her time here has started many thoughtful discussions about managing mental health and wellbeing, including Grounding yourself and PETS. She provides a lot of support to new members, and her mindful descriptions of daily activity have provided peace, comfort and joy to many.

Stormcloudz joined the forums in August, and has been recognised by a number of members in our long-running Bouquet thread for providing outstanding support across a wide number of threads, including some of the more challenging areas of the forums such as Suicidal Thoughts & Self Harm, and PTSD & Trauma.

Terry73 joined the forums just under a month ago and has already achieved legendary 110 posts. Terry73 has been providing outstanding support to their forum peers and has taken to the community like a fish to water!

therising has been absolutely outstanding in their contribution to the community over the past months and we are so appreciative of the level of support and advice they are able to give to their peers here on the forum.

Sorry we missed awarding a Valued Contributor for December, so we have two new members to recognise in this first month of 2019.

Star Jasmine: Star Jasmine joined our forums in October last year, after browsing the pages and seeing a member in need that she wanted to support. Since then, she has been providing support to members all over the forums, with practical advice, gentle encouragement and a listening ear for when things are tough. Thanks so much, Star Jasmine!

JessF: JessF has been a member of the forums for a few years now, and has quietly been providing valuable support and insight to members in need for all of that time. Members have described her posts as practical, pragmatic, sensible and well considered. Thank you for your input Jess.

Our Valued Contributor for the month of January is Katyonthehamsterwheel.

Katyonthehamsterwheel has been a welcoming voice in the community, ensuring new members feel heard and receive a warm ‘hello’. Katy can also be seen to regularly check-in on members to offer her continued support and positivity, while also being open about her own lived experience with mental health issues and what has helped her in staying well.

Juliet_84 has been on the forums for a number of years and while being
open and vulnerable about her own mental health journey, Juliet has
consistently demonstrated our community values. While being friendly and
supportive towards other members on the forums Juliet has shown to listen
without judgement and reflect people’s experiences in a way that acknowledges
the feelings and opinions of others.

Sleepy21 is friendly voice on the forums and welcomes members with empathy while reflecting on another’s journey. Thank you Sleepy21 for making others feel accepted and comfortable with talking through what’s on their mind, along with ways to stay well!

Ecomama has recently joined the forums and continues to demonstrate enthusiasm as well as a genuine concern for others while supporting members of our community – not to mention often adding in some humour to brighten someones day :)

Seeking support

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